Work to complete restoration of the former
Central Fire Station in Aurora will start this construction
season after the City Council Tuesday approved a $755,000
contract to do the bulk of the work.

City officials, however, said up to $200,000 in additional
work will be needed to ensure the structural integrity of
the building, now home of the Aurora Regional Fire
Museum.

The contract was awarded to John Edward Construction of
Downers Grove. Most of the contract will be paid with
a $750,000 Illinois FIRST grant awarded last year to the
city.

In preparing architectural plans for the renovation, Durrant
Group Inc. of Dubuque, Iowa, determined concrete beams that
support the building's first floor showed safety-threatening
deterioration.

Restoring the building's structural integrity, installing a
canopy and other work could raise the entire construction
cost to about $950,000, said Dan Seggebruch, the city's
architectural projects manager. Including architectural
fees, the project's cost could top $1 million.

City spokesman Bill Catching said the city believes it has
identified a federal Housing and Urban Development
Department grant it can use to pay the additional
construction costs, and Seggebruch said the city still
anticipates the museum will reopen by October.

While the museum is closed, many of its exhibits and
artifacts have been moved to the second floor of the Aurora
Historical Society, 20 E. Downer Pl.